Research Status, Key Technologies and Future Prospects of the Standard Digital Human Model

FANG Weining; ZHANG Yunhong; SI Feng; FANG Chengle; HOU Bowen; HU Shengjian

doi:10.19554/j.cnki.1001-3563.2026.16.001

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Packaging Engineering ›› 2026, Vol. 47 ›› Issue (16) : 1-21. DOI: 10.19554/j.cnki.1001-3563.2026.16.001

Special subject: Key Technologies and Applications of Digital Humans in Complex-Equipment Scenarios

Research Status, Key Technologies and Future Prospects of the Standard Digital Human Model

FANG Weining^1a,b, ZHANG Yunhong^2,*, SI Feng², FANG Chengle^1a,b, HOU Bowen³, HU Shengjian^1a,c

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Abstract

The standard digital human model (SDHM) is a fundamental tool for industrial design and human-machine ergonomic evaluation. Ergonomic design in China still relies largely on models and software built upon Western anthropometric data, giving rise to population-adaptation bias and data inconsistency. The work aims to identify the key technical directions of an SDHM oriented to the characteristics of the Chinese population, so as to provide a reference for independent and controllable ergonomic digital design. A narrative review combined with conceptual analysis was adopted. Drawing on Chinese and international literature together with ISO and GB standards, the review covered modeling methods, population measurement data, perception and biomechanical models, and standard literature and the key technologies were then derived from the essential attributes of the SDHM. Three essential attributes were proposed, including statistical representativeness, metrological traceability, and engineering evaluation capability within stated scenario boundaries, on the basis of which the SDHM was distinguished from conventional digital human models and human digital twins. Three key technologies were derived accordingly, including tolerance determination and calibration error control, functional joint-center localization and morphology-function modeling and hierarchical modeling and validation of perception. The error of an SDHM comprised four layers, including measurement, sampling, model approximation, and scenario transfer and its development was constrained by five structural trade-offs. Building an SDHM for the Chinese population depends less on geometric fidelity than on establishing a standardized model system: a parametric model family to ensure population representativeness, a task-oriented minimal sufficient parameter set, a two-layer structure separating the "population benchmark from scenario corrections", a conventional reference system for perceptual quantities, and an auditable coordination mechanism between artificial intelligence and the standard system.

Key words

standard digital human model / anthropometric characteristics of Chinese population / perception quantification / measurement traceability and calibration / human-machine accommodation / human digital twins

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FANG Weining, ZHANG Yunhong, SI Feng, FANG Chengle, HOU Bowen, HU Shengjian. Research Status, Key Technologies and Future Prospects of the Standard Digital Human Model[J]. Packaging Engineering. 2026, 47(16): 1-21 https://doi.org/10.19554/j.cnki.1001-3563.2026.16.001

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